Pentecost: Biblical Perspective On The Workings Of The Holy Spirit!!!

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE WORKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!

Dear Believer,

“Denomination in the Universal Church is an abomination” observed a wise Christian. Since denominations have come to stay in the Universal Church, Yours Truly would say “Denominationism (read a perspective my Denomination is greater than other denominations) is indeed an abomination” for the good Lord may have accepted the denominations as they are in the Universal Church but He would not tolerate one denomination looking down in contempt upon His blood-bought disciples (1 Peter 1:18-19) of yet another denomination with contempt.

At this stage, Yours Truly is inspired to share a dream John Wesley the Principal founder of the Methodist Church once had…

In that dream he found himself, as he thought, at the gates of hell. He knocked, and asked who were within. “Are there any Roman Catholics here?” he asked. “Yes,” was the answer, “a great many.” “Any Church of England men?” “Yes, a great many.” “Any Presbyterians?” “Yes, a great many.” “Any Wesleyans?” “Yes, a great many.” Disappointed and dismayed, especially at the last reply, he turned his steps upwards, and found himself at the gates of Paradise, and here he repeated the same questions. “Any Wesleyans here?” “No.” “Any Presbyterians?” “No.” “Any Church of England men?” “No” “Any Roman Catholics?” “No” “Whom have you, then, here?” he asked in astonishment. “We know nothing here,” was the reply, “of any of those names that you have mentioned. The only name of which we know anything here is ‘Christian’; we are all Jesus’ blood-bought Christians here, and of these we have a great multitude which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues.”

Yes, we shall be obliged in heaven to meet with Christians, with good men, of very different opinions. We shall be obliged there to make little of our differences, to put up with diversity of opinions, and ranks, and pursuits. Should we not better moderate our differences here, and bear and forbear with these diversities in this world? Is it not a waste of time to try to force all our fellow travelers through “our own gate now” (remember Heaven has 12 gates -Rev 21:12-13), when we shall be obliged hereafter to welcome those who enter from the western gate, though we have entered from the eastern, and those who have entered from the southern gate, though we have entered from the northern?

Praise the Lord! Unity is a Biblical mandate as the following Scripture portion affirms…

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.- Eph 4:1-6

Be that as it may, is there any doubt that in the matter of

1) Mode of Baptisms

2) Time and way of Holy Spirit’s advent in a Christian’s life

there are many differences of opinion amongst Christians’ of different denominations.

In this message, Yours Truly is inspired to share his thoughts on the Biblical perspective on the time and way of Holy Spirit’s entrance (through visible and invisible signs) in a Christian’s life and His subsequent workings in his/her life. If it lessens or altogether eliminates prejudice of different denominations, Yours Truly would be entitled to feel that he has succeeded to a great extent in this onerous task of eliminating what can be called with some stretch of imagination as the “Christian Babel Tower”.

I propose to present my viewpoints by using the 5 Ws’ and 1 H question…

When and Where…

First and foremost, whenever a Doctrine is being formulated would it not serve all of us well at that time to address the fundamental “When and Where question”? Are we drawing lessons or inferences from “full-fledged” sections of the Scripture on a certain subject or from the “transitional” sections of the Scripture related to the same subject? The phrases “transitional” and “full-fledged” are being used advisedly here in connection with the Scriptures by Yours Truly for when it comes to “certain subjects” (you would read of them soon), one would see how a clear picture of God’s counsel emerging over a period of time about them…graduating as it were, from the realm of His Permissive will to Perfect will. His counsel had along been “perfect” as regards those “subjects”, but just as a “little child” is taught his Dad’s perfect counsel about a certain subject, one step at a time, our Heavenly Father too has “unpacked” His perfect counsel on those matters gradually over a period of time, in order His people are able to properly “digest” them which would not be the case, if He were to reveal His perfect will on those matters all at once.